According to a recent study conducted as part of a collaboration between the Australian National University, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, and the ASEAN Centre for Energy and the National Economics University of Vietnam, the increase solar and wind energy as a share of the total electricity combination was significantly faster in Vietnam in 2020 than in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.
In the Southeast Asian country, solar and wind electricity generation grew to 9.5 Terawatt-hour (TWh) in 2020 from less than 5 TWh in the previous year, translating to a 2%-point increase as a share of total electricity generation.
Since 2019, Vietnam has risen to the top of the ASEAN region for solar and wind energy adoption. That year, Vietnam surpassed Thailand as the country with the most installed solar and wind capacity.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IREA), Vietnam’s total capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) reached about 16,500 MW by the end of 2020, surpassing the original 2020 target of 850 MW set in 2016, approaching the tentative target of 18,600 MW by 2030 appearing in the draft version of Vietnam’s Power Development Plan 8.
Installed wind power capacity reached 600 MW by the end of 2020, behind only Thailand in the region. In 2020, Vietnam’s annual wind power capacity growth rate was 70%, and the country today has the most ambitious wind power development plan in ASEAN, with a tentative target of 11,800 MW of wind power capacity by 2025.
(Source: VietnamPlus)